All posts by Jim F
Below are all of Jim F's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
david: On the Digital UK website it does show an event for 28th September:
"Existing DTT power-up" on the Salisbury relay.
I've no idea what the power change is though.
DSO1 and DSO2 are as per Briantist's post.
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Julia: Guess you've retuned for Sutton Coldfield's DSO1, but the HD signals haven't changed yet (still using UHF channel 34).
It will change to UHF channel 40 on the 21st September (DSO2).
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C Brewer: Could be a dodgy booster (does happen), but could also be interference caused by having e.g. a WiFi Modem or a DECT phone base close to the TV set.
Are any of your neighbours operating a taxi business?
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phil: Sutton Coldfield had its DSO1 today, but the power for the Arq B MUX (Film 4, Yesterday etc.) won't be increased until DSO2 on the 21st September.
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derek gavin: satellite dish with quad LNB will give you two feeds for a Sky+ / Sky HD box and two more feeds which can go to a Freesat box (only one feed required if the Freesat box doesn't record). There is no problem doing this as you've outlined, paying Sky for a regular (non-multiroom) subscription.
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Mike Smethurst: Your digibox has retained the tuning information for the programmes prior to DSO1, and has added the "new" MUXs it has found by placing the programmes up in the 800s as a consequence.
You need to make the digibox "forget" all the old tuning data - this may need you to select "factory reset" or "default settings" or "first time installation" or similar from the installation menu.
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Phil: Looking on Steetview, buildings in The Square (inc. Tontine Hotel) have vertically polarised aerials pointing downstream towards the Ironbridge relay (about 700yds away on the south bank of the river (also has mobile phone antennas on it). This is a relay of Sutton Coldfield (i.e. not The Wrekin).
If you were receiving Freeview before, chances are you were getting it from Sutton Coldfield (and the Ironbridge relay was just transmitting analogue telly).
I'm wondering if you've had a different aerial put up since the Streetview images were taken - possibly horizontally polarised pointing at Sutton Coldfield (27 miles away), which is connected to some sort of amplifier (could be a masthead amp or a distribution amp, or both).
Now that SC has had DSO1, it is transmitting the BBCA MUX (BBC1, BBC2 etc.) at high power (and the Ironbridge relay also), which could be overloading your system, giving breakup on all of the channels.
You may need to reduce the amplifier gain (if its adjustable) or add attenuaton to the input of your distribution system.
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Mike Dimmick: Remote eye signals I've measured with an oscilloscope use a carrier frequency of 7MHz, amplitude modulated corresponding with the IR LED flashing from the Sky remote (shortest pulse lengths around 0.6ms).
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michelle: The Sky remote eye can somtimes pick up interference from inside the telly - you may find that you need to have a shortish length of coax cable to connect the remote eye to the TV aerial input (which enables the remote eye to be further from the TV set). Having the remote eye plugged directly into the TV does sometimes give trouble.
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Wednesday 7 September 2011 5:29PM
JPWarner: You're nearly 64km from Mendip, but receiving the Arq A MUX (which is one of the ones on reduced power). This would suggest that you should be able to receive all the others. Without knowing what your aerial installer has done, I'm wondering if you have a masthead amplifier fitted. This would require 12V power fed to it via the coax cable from a small power supply inside the house. Could you advise if you have a masthead amp, and whether there is any kind of joint in the coax cable on the mast (typically wrapped in black tape)? If rain gets into a joint like that, it can take voltage away from the masthead amplifier by forming a leakage path, giving the effect you describe. Unplugging the 12V power supply for a few seconds and then reconnecting it typically results in a good signal for a few seconds, before the water starts to conduct again (reducing the voltage to the masthead amplifier). You can observe this on the TV menu showing signal strength / quality.
I'm a little concerned when your installer claims that everything has been checked - you should expect to receive a reasonable signal at your location, and your installer's meter should tell him what's happening (low power / low quality & signal levels either side of a masthead amp.).